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Tuesday, 16 July 2013

Day 11 KINGS CREEK TO PALM VALLEY Tassie to Darwin

We had seen as much as we could at Kings Canyon area given that the Kathleen Springs area was still closed due to the fires they had earlier in the year so this morning we packed up camp and decided to have a look at Palm Valley around near Hermannsburg.

Something I found amusing is when I was filling up with diesel at Kings Canyon Resort ($2.33 per litre) a gentleman was telling everyone the Mereenie Loop was in great condition so dont bother airing down your tyres.

Well not far into it and it was obvious the road was in bad condition so we aired down our tyres!

I think it was this look out where I aired down my tyres. Another bloke and his camper also pulled into the lookout and I noticed his tyres were nice and tight, I found him about 30 kays down the road with a tyre ripped off the rim, we offered help but he assured me he was ok.

Having driven the full length of the Oodnadatta Track, it was like a national highway in comparison to the Merrinee Loop.

Gosse Bluff, we didnt bother driving into it this time.

Once near Hermannsburg this was a welcome site although we didnt get to benefit from his work until a couple of days later when we back tracked out of Palm Valley.

We popped into Hermannsburg to grab enough deisel to get us to Alice in a couple of days time. We didnt want to totally fill up in these areas due to the price...yes I know I am a tight arse!

So with some excitement we turned into the track that leads to Palm Valley.

3 hours to do 18 kays...hmmm should be interesting.

The road in wasnt actually that bad, no 4wd needed in the mighty Patrol. You drive along the dry river bed of the Finke River for most part and the sights are very nice.

One thing that always amuses me in these areas is no matter how much money you spend on your 4wd to prepare for remote travel or badly corrugated roads etc you will always get over taken by an aboriginal in a falcon or an overseas tourist in one of those wicked campers LOL

About an hour later we made it to the camp grounds.

And what a beautiful camp ground it is too. We found a spot easily and proceeded to set up.

Once set up we had a quick lunch and then drove down the real 4wd track to the valley itself to do one of the walks into see the famous palms.

The track down to the valley is very rocky and has several water crossings but once again, nothing a wicked camper can't do!

We then proceeded to do the walk into the valley for a look. The pics can tell the story.

It was quite hot as it was mid to late afternoon so we headed back out of the 4wd track back to camp once seeing as much as we could see in the heat and time constraints.

Once we got back to camp we played around for a while, had tea, sat around the communal fire pit for a while and grabbed some photos of the setting sun.

Palm Valley was well worth the effort to stay there. We wished we had more time because the camp site is amazing and it would have been a great place to have a few rest days. But not to worry thats what retirement is for. Off to bed after another great day.